Rebirth
by kimzie-kitty
Summary: Caroline's life is still drastically changing, despite moving into a new apartment with her godfather, Zach Salvatore. Will the search for the moonstone upset the balance she's just now starting to form? Sequel to Everything Changes. Caroline as the main character. Slight AU. Daroline / Klaroline
1. The Return : Part One

Previously…

 _Elena wandered down the stairs, bored of sitting up by herself in her room._

 _Meanwhile, John was in the kitchen. He opened the fridge to grab a drink. When he closed it, Elena was there, leaning against the cupboard door._

 _John's heart leaped in his chest, not expecting to see his daughter tonight._

 _I thought she would be avoiding me_ _…_

 _"You scared me," he murmured, unscrewing a bottle of water._

 _"Sorry," she said solemnly, going over to grab a dry towel._

 _"You know…" John started, leaning back against the kitchen's cabinets. "I first met Isobel when I was a teenager. I fell in love with her instantly; although I'm pretty sure she never loved me. She was special. A part of why I hate the vampires so much is because of what she became, how it ruined her. And I never would have sent her to Damon had I known she wanted to turn."_

 _Elena didn't say a word during all of this; she simply continued to dry dishes._

 _When she realized he was done, she stopped drying dishes and looked at him._

 _"It's my fault," John continued. "I'm telling you this because I hoped maybe you'd understand."_

 _"Thank you," Elena said quietly before brushing a strand of curly hair out of her face. She then went over and grabbed a meat cleaver to dry._

 _John walked over to her, extending his hand. "Mind if I help?"_

 _Elena's brown eyes flickered down to his hand for a moment before looking up at her face. "Sure."_

 _She tossed the damp rag onto the counter and when John went to reach for it, she swung the knife down in an arc, ramming the steel blade into the fingers._

 _He screamed out in pain when she jerked the knife to the side, cutting his fingers clean off._

 _Next, the brunette shoved him against the sink and John groaned out in pain again._

 _"Katherine?!" he exclaimed, eyes widening._

 _"Hello John," the vampire said, veins and fangs emerging. "Goodbye John."_

 _With one swift thrust, she buried the knife into John's abdomen, a sickly sweet smirk on her face as she did._

 _Katherine froze as she heard her doppelganger at the front door, on the phone with someone._

 _"_ _I looked everywhere…Yeah, someone definitely took my stuff…Caroline's was missing too. I wonder what happened. I'm gonna check on Jeremy before I go to the hospital. Can you meet me there?"_

 _Elena's voice grew louder as she walked into her home, unaware of Katherine standing over a bloody John on the other side of the house._

 _"Okay, I love you Stefan," Elena threw her purse down and hung up her phone, tossing it onto the side table beside her bag._

 _"Jeremy?" she called into the silent house. "Are you awake?"_

 _Something thudded in the kitchen and Elena frowned, slowly walking around the corner to investigate._

~0~

Elena slowly walked around into her kitchen to find John lying on the ground.

"John!" she exclaimed, running to her uncle-slash-father. His fingers were missing from one hand and he had a deep stab wound in his gut.

After staring down at him for a moment, she scrambled over to pick up the phone off of the counter.

" _911, what's your emergency?"_ a kind lady's voice answered.

Elena quickly rambled off her address and that she needed an ambulance when she noticed John's eyes widened.

Over Elena's shoulder, John saw Katherine standing behind her, a small smirk on her face.

"What?" Elena asked, pulling the mouthpiece away from her mouth.

"Behind you," John croaked out.

Elena whirled around, phone still in hand. No one was there, but someone must have been! Crouching down, she hung up the phone and grabbed the bloody knife. The brunette slowly advanced towards the hallway, eyes scanning for anything out of place. Katherine rushed at her, only to frighten her for a moment. After running around Elena, the vampire ran out the door.

Suddenly she remembered John and here were not alone in the house.

"Jeremy!" Elena dropped the knife onto the side table before rushing up the stairs into her little brother's room.

"Jer! Jeremy!" she shook her brother, trying to wake him. He was unresponsive. "Please, Jer! Wake up!"

After a few more frantic shakes, he gasped for breath, sitting upright in his bed.

~0~

Zach stormed into the hospital, eyes red, panic evident on his face.

"Matt!" he barked, walking over to the stunned blonde boy. "Where is my goddaughter?"

Matt gulped, getting up from the waiting room chair. "I can explain, Zach-"

Zach had just begun yelling at Matt when a nurse walked into the waiting room.

"Are you Zach Salvatore?" the sweet nurse asked, her kind blue eyes comforting Zach.

He nodded, wiping his hand across his nose. "How is Caroline?"

"She's not doing too well right now, but I'm sure she'll recover."

Suddenly, sirens started blaring throughout the hospital, causing the nurse to quickly explain she had to leave. She didn't even get to explain before she scurried off.

"What happened?" Zach whispered as the departed. Matt took a seat and motioned for Zach to sit next to him. The man slumped into the hard and cold plastic chair, leaning forward onto his knees.

"We were driving home and Tyler heard this noise…and he got…"

Zach's eyes widened, having being filled in by Alaric earlier that day. "A noise?"

Matt shrugged, "That's what Tyler yelled out. He got some migraine or something and lost control. I thought that Caroline was fine, but then she passed out. She wouldn't let the doctors look at her, not when Tyler was there on the concrete…"

Zach nodded solemnly. "Who all have you told?"

"Bonnie's on her way over now and Elena will be here soon too, someone broke into her house and stabbed her Uncle John," Matt murmured.

Zach got to his feet as one of the hospital's doctors entered the room, clipboard in hand. The news that John was injured barely registered.

"Are you Caroline's doctor?" Zach called, advancing across the room to stand in front of an older man with graying hair.

"You must be Mr. Salvatore," the doctor greeted, ushering Zach over to an empty hallway. "Mr. Salvatore, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Caroline is very weak, very unresponsive. We've done all we can do, but for now, we just have to wait and see what happens."

Zach's jaw dropped and he swallowed the knot in his throat. "How long?"

"There's honestly no telling, sir. I'm sorry I couldn't give you any better news."

The doctor left the godfather in the hall, alone. His nephews popped into his mind. Pulling out his phone, he called Damon and Stefan.

 _I made a promise to Liz, I have no other choice_. Zach thought, as if he was trying to reassure himself for what he was about to do.

~0~

Damon walked into the hospital, having just gotten off the phone with Zach, who'd filled him in on the details. He was still very confused on what happened, seeing as how him and Caroline had kissed and she left to get her dress from the school not even three hours ago.

 _How did the blonde go from being fine to being not fine and in a coma so damn quickly?_

" _Damon_ -" Sheriff Bennett's voice cut into Damon's thoughts. When his hand managed to catch Damon's cold wrist, he stopped walking. "I need your help."

A brief yet terrifying look passed across the man's face before turning around to slowly meet the eyes of the sheriff.

"Sure, anything," Damon said, any semblance of rage slipping away.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead," Rudy led Damon over to the less crowded part of the stark white waiting room, where no one was sitting in earshot. "They thought he was a vampire, they put him in the basement."

Damon mocked surprise, "Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

The sheriff frowned, shaking his head. "No, no, a mistake was made. They said he dropped liked everyone else when John and Ezra's device went off…but he…he couldn't have been a vampire. I've known the man my entire life and now Carol is going to want answers that I honestly think no one has right now." Rudy's eyes spaced out as he got lost in his own thoughts.

Meanwhile, Zach left Caroline's room, wondering where in the hell Damon was. He had vampire speed for Christ's sake, why wasn't he here yet?

Once he came around the corner and through the doors and into the waiting room, he saw Damon staring blankly at a thoughtful and pensive looking Rudy.

"Damon!" he called, causing Rudy to snap out of his daze.

"Oh," Rudy murmured, as if he seemed to just realize why Damon was there. "Caroline. I'm sorry, Damon, go see your friend."

Damon forced a smile onto his face and walked over to Zach.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Zach muttered, leading Damon to his goddaughter's hospital room.

"I got caught by that damn needy sheriff," he grumbled. "I don't know why he doesn't bother Klaus instead of me."

"Klaus isn't around as much as you," Zach said with a shrug as they stopped outside of the room.

Three heartbeats met Damon's ear, one slow and steady, the other two a bit faster and stronger.

Zach went to open the door, but Damon's hand darted out to stop him.

" _Is there something you could do_?" Elena's voice met the vampire and the human's ears. " _Like a spell or something?"_

Damon rolled his eyes, getting impatient. He pushed Zach's hand to the side and took that moment to come into the room.

"She doesn't know how, do you?"

Bonnie and Elena jumped, their heads darting over to look at the source of the voice.

Annoyance morphed onto Bonnie's face. "No, I don't."

"No, you don't because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that." Damon replied snippily.

"Well, I can take down a vampire, that one was easy enough," Bonnie countered, her magic simmering beneath the surface.

"Ladies," Zach said, finally speaking up. "Damon has agreed to give Caroline some blood."

"What!" Bonnie exclaimed. "No, no way! Caroline wouldn't want that!"

"Just enough to heal her, right Damon?" Zach said. "She'd be safe here, and it will be out of her system in a day and she'd be 100% better."

"No, you can't guarantee she'll be safe!"

"I made a promise to her mother, Bonnie," Zach motioned to Damon and they began gently ushering the girls out of the room. "I'm not about to break that promise."

The girls were silent, knowing that in all reality, Zach _was_ Caroline's godfather.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it." Zach said to Damon, once the girls were gone.

Damon nodded solemnly before entering the room.

A deep red bruise covered the right side of Caroline's forehead, a gash in the center with a few stitches running across it. Her right arm was in a cast and tubes ran across her body. Some were going down her hospital gown to attach to her chest, some were going into her arm and a few were twisted around and leading to her nose to help her breathe.

 _But how was she here, in such bad condition, if she was just with me a few hours ago?_

Damon frowned, trying to piece together the pieces in his mind. Walking over to the door, he pulled the clipboard out of the back, his eyes scanning across the chicken scratch that was called handwriting. Finally, the time caught his eye.

 _Time admitted: 9 pm_

He frowned, thinking back to when he kissed Caroline. He remembered the town square's clock chiming in the background right before she arrived.

It didn't make sense, he decided.

 _~0~_

Stefan paced back and forth inside Jeremy's room. He had agreed to stay so Elena could go see Caroline at the hospital.

The front door creaked open and Stefan darted out of Jeremy's room, eager to hear more about Caroline.

"Hey!" Stefan trotted down the staircase. "How was Care?"

The brunette frowned. "Not good."

Stefan's arms engulfed her in a hug. "Just what I needed," she pulled away to kiss him.

However, Stefan's eyes lingered on her face for a beat longer than necessary, and Katherine knew she'd been caught.

His hand gripped the back of the other vampire's neck and he bared his fangs at her. He threw her on the couch and she was to her feet before he could even blink.

"Katherine," Stefan sneered.

"Hmmm," she mused. "At least one of us could fool the great Salvatore brothers."

Stefan rushed her, slamming her against the wall.

"Feel better?" a sickly sweet smile spread across her lips.

Fighting for control, Stefan spun her around and shoved her against the wall leading into the kitchen. The front door's knob jiggled and Katherine used this small distraction to overpower Stefan. After twisting his arm behind his back and pushing him to the hardwood, she flashed him a smile before disappearing.

"Stefan?"

"Elena," Stefan called, sitting up.

The brunette human came around the corner. "What happened?"

"Katherine happened," Stefan said as Elena stepped into the light. "She managed to fool me."

Elena helped Stefan to his feet and the pair went into her kitchen.

"I'm going to go check on Jeremy," Elena explained as she poured a tall glass of water. "We'll have to talk about this later. You should probably call Damon and let him know."

Stefan nodded and she departed the room.

~0~

Bonnie and Matt walked down the long hospital corridor. "He's been here all night?" Matt asked incredulously.

Bonnie nodded, stopping briefly to let a nurse by. "According to my dad, yeah. Apparently he left around 11 to go to Elena's, but he was back by 1."

"And they aren't dating?"

Bonnie smiled wryly. "I'm sure he wishes they were, but no."

"No one else?" Matt asked.

"Zach left when Damon got back at 1, and he's probably here now." She answered, knocking lightly on the door.

"Caroline?"

"Come in!" the blonde called.

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

Bonnie and Matt entered my room, slightly worried expressions on their face.

My brunette friend scurried over to me and gave me a hug.

"Ooo, careful." I warned, feeling my bones twinge. "I'm still a bit sore."

"Sorry," she pulled away quickly. "I forgot for a moment."

I smiled reassuringly, "It's alright, Bon. They say I'm healing really well. 

"My turn," Matt said, coming over to me next. He hugged me gently and I reached up to hug him back. "Angela sends her love."

I smiled, nodding. "Thanks for coming to visit me."

"Of course, we wouldn't be anywhere else!" Bonnie said, leaning on the end of my hospital bed.

My brain was still fuzzy, but I vaguely remembered the crash.

The terror and confusion came rushing back, ensnaring my mind.

 _The car getting closer and closer in my mind was all I could seem to focus on and then suddenly I felt the heat of the airbag before it smacked into my face._  
 _Wait._ My brain cut into my flashback. _Why don't have I have more injuries?_

 _The only way you'd be healing as quickly as you are is…_

 _Vampire blood. I thought about Zach and his promise to keep me safe, and then thought about Damon and Stefan._

"Caroline," Bonnie said, pulling me back to the present. "You alright?"

I forced a smile on my face, nodding. "Still just a little foggy from the medicine."  
Bonnie smiled back.

"Is Uncle Zach here still?" I asked, wanting to know more about my injuries before the vampire blood.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, we'll go get him. I'm glad you're all right, Care."

The two exited my room, leaving me to myself.

Sunlight filtered into my hospital room and I closed my eyes, relishing in the warmth. I didn't know how I felt about the realization that I had vampire blood in my system. What if someone came in and hurt me, or I died somehow? I would have become a vampire. That was the last thing I wanted. I couldn't have freely enjoyed the warmth from the sun if I was a vampire.

Like always, my thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

 _Damon._

"Hello, Blondie," Damon smirked, waltzing into my room and shutting the door behind him.

"Damon." I retorted, trying to sit up a little more.

"Feeling wonderful, I assume?"

My eyes narrowed. "I take it I have you to thank for the magical healing process?"

He did a little mock bow, "Zach asked me to."

I figured as much...

"So, how bad was I?" I asked, curiously.

He shrugged, "I've seen worse."

"Damon."

He moved to sit on the edge of my bed, like Bonnie had earlier. "You were pretty banged up, Care. Bruised head, internal bleeding, broken arm and ribs…"

My eyes widened and I unconsciously flexed my fingers, feeling no pain. "It was that bad?"

"You crashed into a wall going 60, Caroline." He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I'm surprised you didn't get anything worse."

I nodded solemnly.

Damon was silent for a moment, his expression a bit conflicted.

"What?"

"How did you get in that car, anyways? I thought you had to go get your dress…" 

"I had Elena pick it up for me, since Zach made me leave before the fireworks. That's why I was with Tyler and them."

"Before the fireworks…" Damon mumbled, mostly to himself.

I frowned in confusion, nodding slowly. "What's it matter?"

"What's it matter?" He repeated disbelievingly.

 _What's he freaking out for?_ I wondered.


	2. The Return : Part Two

hey you guys, sorry for the wait, hopefully chapters won't take so long to write from now on!

Enjoy!

-Kim

* * *

 _Previously on Rebirth..._

 _Damon was silent for a moment, his expression a bit conflicted._

 _"What?"_

 _"How did you get in that car, anyways? I thought you had to go get your dress…"_

 _"I had Elena pick it up for me, since Zach made me leave before the fireworks. That's why I was with Tyler and them."_

 _"Before the fireworks…" Damon mumbled, mostly to himself._

 _I frowned in confusion, nodding slowly. "What's it matter?"_

 _"What's it matter?" He repeated disbelievingly._

 _What's he freaking out for? I wondered._

* * *

My frown deepened, still confused. I stared blankly at Damon, hoping he would continue on his own.

"It matters because…" Damon got up, moving to stand at the foot of my hospital bed. A brief look passed across his face as he stopped talking. It was strange, but the look was fleeting, so I didn't have a clue what it was about.

"Because…?" I echoed, when he didn't bother to elaborate.

"Never mind, Blondie" he paused a beat, eyes darting towards the door. "Zach's almost here."

A few seconds after he said that, I heard a knock on the door.

"You're welcome, by the way." Damon murmured, before smirking at me and opening the door.

I stared after him, not really paying much attention to Zach entering. Something was off about the smirk. It wasn't as…smug… as usual. It was as if Damon simply turned up the corners of his lips to hide…something else.

"Caroline," Zach came over to the side of my bed, arms reaching out to hug me. "I'm so glad you're awake."

His hug snapped my out of my Damon-inflicted daze.

~0~

 **Third Person POV**

"I want to know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband!" Mrs. Lockwood's voice was loud, and Sheriff Bennett was glad that the guests weren't there yet.

Mayor Lockwood's wake was scheduled for today and a lot of the community was expected to come to the Lockwood residence to pay their respects for the fallen mayor.

This was definitely a conversation that didn't need to be heard by anyone else.

"I'm looking into it," Sheriff Bennett said, glancing over at Damon, whom had thankfully come along with him to deal with Mrs. Lockwood. The two led her farther into her foyer and into her small sitting room off to the side. "You need to be straight with me. Is there any reason that you know of that Richard was affected by the vampire device?"

"What are you implying?" Mrs. Lockwood almost shrieked, offended at the mere thought. "That he was one of them?"

Damon reached out to the woman, "No, no. No one's implying that."

She flinched away from the man's touch. "Your deputy," she snarled at Sheriff Bennett. "Screwed up. Plain and simple. That makes you responsible."

"Carol…" Damon said, not liking where this was going.

"You were the one who let Ezra Forbes help John Gilbert execute his _idiot_ plan in the first place!"

"Rudy…" Damon said warningly to the Sheirff.

"Someone got my husband killed!" Carol had good reason to be angry, Damon would admit, but he didn't like how loud or how careless she was being, especially since guests were arriving.

Meanwhile, at the side entrance of the house, Tyler was greeting his guests when he noticed a vaguely familiar Ford Bronco XLT drive up to the house.

As the guests lulled, Tyler glanced closer to the figure advancing up the sidewalk.

"So, the black sheep returns…" Tyler said, smiling at Mason, his father's brother.

"Tyler?" Mason's eyes widened, not recognizing his nephew right away, as he had not seen him in quite some time.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded, stepping towards Mason, who'd finally stopped.

"What happened to you? In my mind, you're still 12 years old."

Tyler laughed, giving his uncle a hug. "Then that's still two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason."

Another car pulled up the driveway, this one a slick black Challenger he hadn't seen before. Tyler and Mason pulled away and looked to the car.

"Klaus, right?" Tyler called as the curly haired blonde man stepped out of the car.

Klaus smirked wolfishly, nodding. "That it is, mate. Sorry to hear about your father."

He shook Tyler's hand and nodded at the other man.

Tyler let the man to the door. "Come on in, everyone's kind of everywhere."

Klaus' grin deepened and he stepped past the threshold.

~0~

Elena and Stefan walked down the brightly lit hospital hall room to visit John.

Elena paused outside her uncle's door and Stefan glanced at his girlfriend. "Ready for this?"

Pressing her lips together, she nodded.

They opened the door and stepped into the dark room, the blinds drawn.

"John?" she called out, staying by Stefan, who was standing near the foot of the bed.

His eyes shot open and stared in terror at Elena, who he thought was Katherine. Stefan noticed John's hand shoot to the button to call the nurse, but Stefan was at his side in a millisecond and ripped it away.

"I'm Elena, I'm not Katherine." She said gently, a tinge of annoyance flickering throughout her face.

"We know she did this to you," Stefan said, releasing his hand. "We need to know why."

John opened his dry, cracked lips, still eying his daughter. "Where is she?"

Stefan shrugged, staring emotionlessly at the man. "You tell us."

John eyed his daughter and Stefan warily, trying to sit up. "I don't know."

Stefan pushed him back down, already tired of John trying to play tough.

"You're a little weak to be trying to play tough guy. Why don't you just sit back and answer a few questions?"

Elena moved over to the edge of John's hospital bed, causing him to turn to look at her. She fished something small and shiny out of her pocket – the Gilbert ring – and placed it into John's hand.

"Please," she said, locking eyes with her father. "Tell us why she's here. What does she want?"

John didn't say anything, simply clenched the ring in his fist and stared back at the vampire and his daughter.

A few moments later, Elena stormed out of the room, angry with her father, whom had just said something along the lines of "I don't know why Elena hasn't killed you already, I don't know anything, so kill me or get out".

Inside the room, Stefan pulled away from John, his wrist bloody. He had decided that since John was okay with dying, he may as well give him some blood.

"You now have my blood in your system; all I have to do is kill you. Now take my advice. Leave town. Elena doesn't want you here. You've got about 24 hours before the blood leaves your system, that's enough time to disappear or so help me God, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do," Stefan let go of John, who gasped in horror. "The clock starts now."

Stefan moved toward the door when John chuckled. Stefan stopped, turning back to stare at him.

"You haven't even figured out yet, have you?" John wiped the blood from his lips. "She's not alone. You should have known by now that when one's near, the other is sure to be close by."

Stefan's eyes widened, suddenly remembering what Katherine had said earlier. _At least one of us could fool the great Salvatore brothers._

She hadn't fooled him, so that means Chandra must have fooled… _Damon._

~0~

Damon and Sheriff Bennett walked to the back half of the Lockwood mansion.

"Who's the guy with Carol?" he asked, eyeing the older man that vaguely resembled Tyler.

"The mayor's younger brother, Mason." Rudy replied, stopping over to the side.

"Is he on the council?" Damon asked, still watching Mason and Carol. "Like John and Ezra were when they rolled in?"

Rudy shook his head. "Nah, he's nothing like them. He's not such an ass, for one. He doesn't want anything to do with the council. He doesn't believe in any of it- and besides, he's more concerned with finding the 'perfect wave'."

Damon made a noise of acknowledgement and bobbed his head. "Interesting. Thanks."

Someone across the room called for Rudy. The sheriff turned to Damon and nodded his head before walking away.

"See you," he called, before turning his attention back to Mason and Carol.

Damon's phone buzzed in his pocket, but when he fished it out to see his brother's name, he silenced it.

Meanwhile, a brunette walked up the driveway towards Tyler, where he was greeting and letting people in.

"Hey Elena, thanks for coming!" he called, grabbing her hand in appreciation. "Come on in."  
She smiled at Tyler before entering his home.

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

I took the clipboard from the older, graying nurse and signed where she told me. _Caroline Forbes here, CF there, another Caroline Forbes and then one last CF_

The nurse, who's name was Martha, beamed widely at me. "Well young lady, I am very surprised with how quickly you recovered, but I'm glad you did."

I pushed my greasy hair behind my ear, thankful they had cleaned the blood away the day before.

Martha reminded me once more that the doctor thought I should stay another day just to be monitored, but I knew that nothing was wrong. Damon had given me his blood, after all; and that stuff cured just about anything.

"I'm glad too. Must have been some kind of miracle," I replied.

"Must be," Martha called before bending down to get into a small cupboard under the mess of computers and wires. She pulled out a clear bag. My clothes from the night before were inside, all bloody and gross.

"Your godfather dropped you off some new clothes as well," Martha pulled out a second bag, her kind eyes reassuring me.

I nodded and stood up, muscles a bit sore as the vampire blood was just beginning to run its final course.

"I'll leave you to it," she dipped her head and headed to the door. Before leaving my room she said, "Make sure you check in with the bookkeeper before you leave, she'll make sure all your records and insurance and whatnot will get to the right place."

After changing into a fresh pair of dark jeans and a pink Henley shirt, I checked myself out and waited on Stefan in the lobby.

 _I'm in the lobby now_. I texted.

Elena and Stefan appeared from the ICU hallway and I got to my feet.

"How are you feeling, Care?" Stefan asked as he and Elena got closer.

"Still a tiny bit sore, but I'm sure I'll feel better by tonight."

We made our way to the exit and Elena stopped right outside the door.

"Caroline?" she said, "Would you mind going to Stefan's car? Stefan wants to drive you home, but I wanna talk to him really quick."

I met eyes with Stefan and forced a smile onto my face. "Yeah, sure."

I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and walked through the cold to Stefan's car.

By the time I made it to Stefan's car, he was already headed my way. Elena headed to her car, which was parked a few rows over.

"So what even happened last night?" I asked as I climbed into the passenger seat. "I was going to ask earlier, but figured it'd be better to wait."

"After we had Zach call you and tell you to leave, Damon got taken into the basement…" Stefan continued to sum up the night's events. "When did you go with Tyler and them? Was it after you made sure Bonnie got Damon and I out of the building?"

I frowned. "When was I with Bonnie?"

Stefan's brow lowered even more, if that was even possible. "I figured as much."  
"What are you talking about Stefan?" I turned to stare at his profile, his eyes staying locked on the road. "I was at Mystic Grill when you all called me and the mayor made me go with Tyler and them."

He shook his head slowly and we pulled into the apartment complex where Zach and I were now living. "Katherine and Chandra are in town, posing as you and Elena."

"What?" I exclaimed, eyes widening.

 _Was that why Damon was acting so strangely earlier? Did something happen with Chandra and he thought it was with me?_

"She's back? _They're_ back?"

After Stefan parked, he turned to face me. "Katherine didn't manage to fool me for long, but I know she said something that made me think that Chandra fooled Damon into thinking she was you…"

I nodded slowly, thinking back to when Damon came to visit me. "I think so too…he was acting really weird when he visited me this morning."

Stefan sighed. "I figured as much. Have you seen or spoke to Klaus since last night?"

I thought back, then shook my head. "No, have you?"

Stefan shook his head as well. "He's much older than Damon and I, I'm sure he's fine…. Hey, did you want to go with me to the wake for the mayor, or stay here and rest?"

My eyes widened, not really comprehending that the mayor was affected by the Gilbert device when Stefan recapped.

"Wait, why was Mayor Lockwood affected? He's not a vampire, right? I mean wouldn't you guys know if he was?"

Stefan's gaze remained somber as he shrugged. "That's what I'm wanting to figure out."

I gathered my things, looking around for Zach's car. "I might wait until Zach gets back from wherever and have him take me to get my car…I really don't want to walk that far."

Stefan smiled understandingly. "Alright Caroline, just be careful. Elena and I will probably be at the wake if you need us."

Getting out of Stefan's car, I waved goodbye to him before heading up to the apartment.

~0~

At the Lockwood's, Damon happened upon Bonnie and struck up a conversation. He was curious to see whether or not the little witch knew more than she was letting on.

"Do you know why the Gilbert device affected Tyler and the mayor?" Bonnie asked, staring at the vampire.

"No and if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you." Damon retorted, taking a sip of the drink he'd swiped from a server.

"Don't you want to know why?"

"Yes Bonnie, I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by the vampire torture device you let John and Ezra use against us," Damon said evenly. "Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?" Damon forced an arrogant smirk onto his face and walked around the food table, picking up a few grapes to pop into his mouth.

She followed him, beginning to retort when her face softened, only to light up a moment later. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Damon turned to where Bonnie was looking and saw his secretly favorite blonde come into the room. The vampire couldn't help but to smirk even more.

"You're welcome," Damon said to Bonnie.

"No, _you're_ welcome," the witch retorted, crossing her arms.

He scoffed, "Why am I welcome? You lied to your friends and me."

"You live to see another day," she countered.

"No good deal goes unpunished with you, does it?"

The arrogant smirk still plastered across his face was driving Bonnie crazy.

"Doesn't undue the bad. I know what you are. You may have Caroline and Elena and the sheriff and everyone else fooled, but not me! One wrong move and I'll take you out."

Damon snorted and had just begun to make some remark when Bonnie stared hard at him.

Sharp pain ricocheted though Damon's head, causing him to wince and move his hand to his temple.

"Oh, sorry, you were saying?"

Bonnie stormed off onto the front porch, only to run into Elena.

"Oh my god!" she grumbled. "Damon drives me crazy. He's walking around like he's some kind of hero for healing Caroline when it's his fault all of this happened in the first place."

Elena frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry Bonnie. What Damon's done is just awful."

Bonnie sighed heavily. "Okay, I'm better. Hateful Damon moment is over."

When the witch reached out to touch Elena's arm, a weird vibe came over her and she immediately knew that that was not Elena.

Somehow managing to keep her face smooth, she forced a smile onto her face. "I've got to find Tyler and pay my respects. I'll see you later."

Not Elena nodded. "Okay."

Bonnie walked away, forcing herself to travel at a normal pace. As soon as she got into an empty room, she pulled out her phone and dialed Elena.

" _Hello_?" the same voice answered, causing chills to run down Bonnie's spine.

 _They sounded just alike…_

"Elena?" Bonnie asked. "Where are you?"  
Elena sighed and Bonnie heard a car door slam in the background. "Bonnie, I know, I'm late. I'm headed there now, I'll be there in five."

Elena hung up before Bonnie could get another word in. Bonnie turned around, hoping to go and tell Damon.

There Katherine stood behind her, a calm smirk on her face.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Katherine," the vampire cocked her head to the side and Bonnie felt like she was being stared at like prey.

Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know who you are."

Katherine took a step forward, still having the arrogant yet emotionless look on the face that was so much like Elena's.

"Of course you do. You're the best friend, right? We've been putting all the pieces of Elena and Caroline's lives together. Isobel told me it was a bit of a puzzle. I do know who Jenna and Jeremy are, and I've already met the lovely Zach and ex-boyfriend Matt…and then there's you…" Katherine paused, slowly walking around Bonnie. "The vampire-hating Bennett witch, with the Sheriff father. Did I do good?"

Bonnie quickly tried to leave the room, to find some other human. Before Bonnie could even get close, Katherine sped around her and blocked the exit.

Thinking fast, Bonnie stared at Katherine, using the spell she'd just used on Damon minutes before. When the vampire gripped her head and groaned, she thought she had her. But when Katherine chuckled and lifted her head, Bonnie gasped.

"I've been around a long time Bonnie; you're gonna have to do better than that."

Grabbing the witch by the throat, she shoved her against the wall. As the veins crept out under her eyes and her fangs elongated, Bonnie forced the doors open to the hall.

The veins disappeared and she smirked again. "Nice."  
Meanwhile, Stefan was milling about the room, having just arrived. He was speaking to Tyler when he saw a blonde head disappear into the hall.

 _Caroline?_

He frowned. "Tyler, would you give me just a moment? I'd like to go find my brother."

Tyler smiled and nodded and Stefan headed towards the hallway. He was just beginning to walk down it when a door to his left blew open. Forgetting about whom he supposed was Chandra for a moment, he turned and stared into the room.

"Katherine," he sternly said, seeing that the vampire had Bonnie against the wall by her neck.

She turned to the sound of her name and smiled arrogantly, "Stefan."

"Leave her alone."

She released Bonnie without a moment's hesitation. "Okay," as Katherine went to leave, she hovered by Stefan, dragging her long, tan finger across his chest. He and Bonnie met eyes for a moment, before following her out into the hall. Stefan followed her back into one of the main rooms, where a spread of cheese, grapes, and crackers were available.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked.

Katherine grabbed a drink off the table and swirled it around. "Hm. After the way you treated me last night, I thought that a public place would be…less…violent."

Stefan scowled, realizing as the vampire smirked that she was enjoying herself.

"You're taking this a little far, don't you think? Elena could walk in at any second."

Katherine hummed as she picked up a cherry. "But that's part of the fun, Stefan. Damon's here, somewhere, Chandra's been avoiding him, toying just a bit." She put it into her mouth. "Maybe she'll make a move again."

Stefan's eyes glanced to the window, where Damon stood alone on the back patio, people milling about.

Caroline – wait, no – Chandra, walked up to Damon, hesitantly. Stefan was about to go after the blonde when Matt walked in.

Outside on the patio, Damon was drinking a glass of bourbon he'd swiped from the mayor's personal stash. He'd managed to avoid most of the townspeople by leaning on the rail and staring out to the woods.

"Damon."

A familiar and warm voice met his ears and if it was anyone else, he wouldn't have turned around.

"Hello, Blondie," he turned around and leaned against the railing, now facing her. "Decided to make an appearance, I see. Feeling better?"

Chandra, who was currently masquerading as Caroline, smiled. "Yeah. I went home and thought for a little while about last night and decided I didn't wanna mope around anymore."

This piqued Damon's interest, as he had not yet spoken to Stefan because he was avoiding him.

"Really?" Damon smirked, taking another sip of his bourbon and eyeing "Caroline".

She nodded, coming to rest her hips on the rail, next to him.

"I guess I'm kinda just…taken aback? By the whole thing," she explained, not wanting to try to go too much into detail.

Damon knew Caroline, better than she did, Chandra realized. She didn't want to risk spoiling her fun. Stefan would tell him soon enough, but…for now….

When Damon remained silent, still staring at her, she continued. "But hey, I kissed you back, right? Ball's in your court."

If Damon and "Caroline" weren't in public, he would have grabbed her right there and pressed his lips to hers. Despite the feelings rising up inside him, the multitude of people milling around stopped him from doing anything.

She saw Damon's eyes darken with lust and she batted her eyelashes, spotting _Angela?_ Across the way.

"Angela!" she called out, before quickly walking away from Damon.

~0~

After forcing herself to speak to the dull human for a couple of minutes, she spotted someone she never thought she would see again.

 _Klaus?_ She couldn't help her unbeating heart from leaping at the sight of him.

"Klaus," she called out, causing the hybrid's head to rotate towards her.

"Caroline," he purred, causing an enormous grin to spread across Chandra's face. "So nice to see you."

"I want to talk to you, somewhere private," She said as she got closer to the man. "I don't want anyone to hear."

Klaus' eyes narrowed and he still smiled, somewhat curiously. "Of course, love."

The blonde vampire led the man off the patio of the Lockwood's home and towards the small pond that was at the crest of the hill on the far side of their property.

They both remained silent, while Chandra's brain was going a million miles a minute. Niklaus was the one man she'd ever actually had…feelings…for. She loved Damon, or at least she thought she did, but she had compelled him. Chandra didn't know if his feelings were real. She assumed that because he was pursing Caroline that they must be at least slightly, but she didn't wanna assume. Niklaus, on the other hand…he was her best friend for years, before his transition into a hybrid happened. She loved him and it hurt her to see him whoring around with so many stupid human girls.

Once they arrived at the edge, they moved to sit on the light wooden bench settled over to the side.

"Where were you last night, when the device went off?" she asked, a little too eagerly. "I was…worried about you."

Chandra dipped her head, letting a strand of hair shield her face from Klaus, as if she was feeling bashful.

"I was…taking care of some…family issues. One of my brothers apparently is looking for me and I was making sure that I am not easily found."

"You have family?" she asked, as if she didn't know about Niklaus' three brothers and one sister.

He nodded. "That I do, love."

She continued to talk to him, trying to get him to lower his guard. After few minutes, she could tell he was at ease in her presence.

"Klaus-" she said, after a long moment of silence.

A strange look appeared on his face and his intense greenish eyes stared deeply into her blue ones.

"I-I can't stop thinking about you," she started, catching his eyes dart down to her lips. "Ever since…"

She let herself trail off, knowing that there had to be something that Caroline and Klaus had done together that would give her a reason to say that…or so she hoped.

While she said this, she couldn't help but to remember when Klaus stole Damon's place as her partner so many years ago. He'd stepped in, catching Damon off guard and swept her off her feet.

They both remained silent and Klaus finally said, "Caroline."

The blonde's eyes darted over to Klaus' face.

And before she knew it, his lips were on hers, much like Damon's were the night before. However, she felt nothing. No butterflies, no warmth, no happiness, just the cool pressure of his lips.

She forced herself to reach out and cup his face, pressing her lips back into his. She allowed herself to kiss him back for a moment longer, before making herself break away and leap to her feet.

"I-I'm sorry," she said, feigning fear. "I have to go."

And with that, she fled.

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

I'd spent the last hour since Stefan dropped me off getting a shower and cleaning myself up. I debated writing in my diary, but part of me really didn't wanna try and recap _everything_ that had happened over the past 48 hours. Maybe I'd feel up to it later.

The front door creaked open and I yelled a "Hello!" to Zach.

"Hey Care!" he responded and I heard him throw his keys down onto the hall table. A moment later, he appeared in the kitchen.

"Whatcha making?" he slumped down onto the bar stool on the far side of the island/counter that stuck out and divided the kitchen from the dining area.

"Fettuccine alfredo," I stirred the pot of creamy sauce. "I wanted something that would fill me up _and_ taste amazing."

"Decide not to go to the Lockwood wake?"

"Yeah, I didn't know how I'd take it emotionally, since the last one I went to was for my mom, and besides, I'm still exhausted."

Zach bobbed his head, not saying anything for a moment.

"I'd rather you be somewhere safe since…y'know…it hasn't been 24 hours yet."

I swallowed thickly, glad that I didn't have the iron taste of Damon's blood in my mouth.

"Me too," I thought about what Stefan said to me, about Chandra and Katherine being back in town.

Although, Zach preferred to be on a need-to-know basis, I decided that this was something he definitely needed to know. The fact that my doppelganger had managed to fool Damon already - in some way – was proof enough.

So, I explained to Zach about how Katherine and Chandra were back in town, and that he shouldn't invite either of "us" in.

After I made sure he understood how similar they looked to us, we grabbed some bowls and ate dinner in peace.


	3. The Return : Part Three

_Hey guys! Didn't expect me to update so fast, did you? :)_

 _I've been getting back into enjoying writing so here ya go! I was struggling a little bit to figure out what I wanted to happen with everything, but I think I've gotten everything down pat!_

 ** _Quick question!_**

 ** _What do you think Chandra/Katherine should do to say "game on"?_**

* * *

 _Previously on Rebirth..._

 _I swallowed thickly, glad that I didn't have the iron taste of Damon's blood in my mouth._

 _"Me too," I thought about what Stefan said to me, about Chandra and Katherine being back in town._

 _Although, Zach preferred to be on a need-to-know basis, I decided that this was something he definitely needed to know. The fact that my doppelganger had managed to fool Damon already - in some way – was proof enough._

 _So, I explained to Zach about how Katherine and Chandra were back in town, and that he shouldn't invite either of "us" in._

 _After I made sure he understood how similar they looked to us, we grabbed some bowls and ate dinner in peace._

* * *

 **Third Person POV**

Stefan and Katherine walked the perimeter of the Lockwood property. They chitchatted about the Lockwood's land and vengeful vampires.

Stefan suddenly stopped walking. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

Katherine smirked, crossing her arms. "But you have. You're stronger, meaner…it's sexy."

His brows lowered. "Don't flirt with me, Katherine. I'm not Damon and you aren't Chandra. I haven't spent the past 145 years obsessed with you."

She hummed quietly, eyeing her once lover. "Yeah, but based on you all's choice of women, I'd say otherwise. Although, it does bother me that you're falling in love with someone else."

Stefan stared blankly at the woman. He'd spent the last 145 years trying to come to terms with the fact that everything he thought was real was compelled by Katherine – and that he had no self-control when it came to human blood.

"I was never in love with you, Katherine. You compelled me, so none of my feelings were real."

Katherine's bottom lip jutted out as she gazed at the broody man. "Believe whatever you want, Stefan. But I know the truth and deep down, so do you."

She left her finger on his hard chest, having poked him when she said that he knew the truth as well.

He scoffed. "The truth? Well, the truth is that you and Chandra are both the same lying, manipulative and selfish bitches you've always been. So, for whatever reason you all decided to be here, why do you get it over with and then leave? Because if you don't, I will hunt you down and rip your hearts out."

Katherine stared hard at Stefan. "You want to know why I'm here Stefan? I can't speak for Chandra, but I can speak for myself. I came back…for _you_."

Stefan snorted. "Well, the problem, Katherine, is that I hate you."

Katherine turned to rip an iron stem from the ground and in a flash, she had stabbed it deep into Stefan's stomach.

Her hand still on the stem, she raised her eyes to meet Stefan's. "You hate me, huh? That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one."

With one fluid movement, she tugged the rod from his stomach and disappeared.

~0~

Elena met Stefan at a bench near the lake on the Lockwood property as soon as she could. They were talking quietly when Damon arrived, having trailed Elena.

"So," he said standing in front of them, arms crossed. "Katherine's back?"

Stefan nodded, wincing as Elena dabbed at his wound.

"We got a crazy ex on the loose," he glanced at Elena, smirking. "You better watch out, looks like Kathrine is trying to steal _your_ guy."

Elena frowned, meeting Damon's cocky gaze. "She's not the only one who's back, Damon."

Damon's brows narrowed and a crazy, kind of wounded look crossed over his face.

"Chandra's back too and I've think she's already messed with you, by the way Katherine was talking," Stefan said, studying his brother's reaction.

Damon cursed under his breath and mumbled what Stefan thought sounded like, _so that's why she kissed me back._

Elena got to her feet. "I'm going to go check on Jenna and Jeremy. Let me know when you guys are done."

Stefan nodded.

"The blonde that was here today," Damon said slowly, thinking back to when who he thought was Caroline approached him, "Was that Chandra?"

Stefan pressed his lips together and nodded again.

Damon cursed again, beginning to pace.

"You kissed her, didn't you?" Stefan asked, getting to his feet. "Caroline, I mean."

"Yeah, I did," Damon angrily said, turning to glare at his brother. "You gonna fight me?"

Stefan snorted. "No."

"Why? I would fight me!" Damon continued, still pacing. "I kissed your little sister, basically…me!" he gestured to himself, as if he was some big, horrible person.

The younger brother shrugged. "You only kissed her because you feel something for her, because you actually care. I'm not gonna let either of them come in and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all these years, willing to feel _something_!"

Damon stared blankly at his brother.

Though he would never admit it, Stefan was right. He did feel something for Caroline, something more real and more intense then he had for Chandra. He knew it was real feelings, not compelled feelings. He knew he felt something and that scared him more than anything or anyone ever could.

By the time Damon had stopped pacing and thinking, Stefan was gone.

~0~

A few days had passed, and I'd mentally cleared myself to go train with Alaric again. I didn't want to get out of the habit or let myself get lazy and stop training entirely. So, since it was a Saturday morning, I woke up at seven and tromped up the stairs to the next floor and knocked on Alaric's door.

Alaric opened the door, his hair a mess.

"Caroline," he greeted me, looking a bit confused. "What can I do for you?"

I smiled and gestured to my workout pants and top. "I was hoping we could start training again."

He eyed my body warily. "Are you sure you've recuperated enough? You were in a car accident like three days ago, Care."

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Damon helped me remember?" I mocked bit my arm and his eyes widened.

"I figured as much since you got out of there so quickly," he sighed, running his hand through his brown hair. "Okay. Give me like ten minutes. I'll meet you at the fountain? We can run around town today."

I smiled and nodded. "That works…well, I'll see you there."

Alaric shut the door and I began my short walk to the fountain.

~0~

When I arrived at the fountain, I noticed Damon and the sheriff across the street, walking and talking. I hadn't heard from Damon since I saw him at the hospital. Whenever I was at the Salvatores, he seemed to avoid me.

"Damon! Sheriff Bennett!" I called, waving to them.

I glanced across the street before briefly jogging across to them.

"Sheriff Bennett, would you mind if I stole Damon from you for a minute?"

Bonnie's father smiled warmly at me. "Of course Caroline, go right ahead! We just finished talking anyways."

Damon clenched his jaw and eyed me irritatedly. Nonetheless, he followed me away from the sheriff and back to the fountain.

"What Blondie?"

"I'm just seeing how you're doing is all," I explained. "Because by now you know that Chandra's back in town."  
He rolled his eyes. "I'm great, Blondie. Walking on the sunshine, thanks so much for asking."

I sighed, staring at my friend. "Damon."

 _What could Chandra have possibly done? I could tell he was being weird about something…_

"Caroline," He stated, expressionless.

"What did Chandra do to make you avoid me?"

He snorted. "Psh, me? Avoid you? Nahh."

I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. "We should be able to talk about whatever this is, Damon!"

The man turned to look at my face as the frustration met my voice.

"We're close enough now, aren't we? I really wanna know how you're doing."

Damon didn't say anything, so I stepped closer to him, only a few feet between us.

"You don't know what _I'm not avoiding you_ means do you?"

I growled, beginning to get angry.

Damon was one of my good friends and I hated not knowing what the hell was going on with him.

"Damon!" I said, exasperatedly.

He pressed his lips together and didn't look at me.

Maybe it was the time or the cold, or maybe it was the accident knocking my head around. Or maybe it was just me…but I found myself reaching out and gently touching Damon's shoulder, wanting him to look at me.

"Damon," I said again, gently. "Tell me what she did to you."

He flared his nostrils, getting angry, though I didn't know if it was at me.

"I kissed you, Caroline!" he finally exclaimed. "I thought you kissed me back and doppelganger confusion ensued. How do you think I'm doing?"

My eyes widened and I unconsciously stepped back, the cold wind biting at my face.

The thought of Damon's lips on mine caused blood to rush to my face. I didn't know how I felt about the thought of him kissing me. My brain didn't seem to know what to think about it. Part of me would be mad, admittedly, but another part….that part might have enjoyed it.

"You…kissed me?" I whispered, knowing he could hear me.

A strangely vulnerable, un-Damon like look was on his face.

"It was Chandra, but you thought it was me?" I murmured.

His jaw clenched as the vulnerability was locked away and he stared at the fountain.

"Oh, Damon," I continued, quietly. I imagined he was hurt, confused, and probably felt a bit led on. "I'm so sorry she did that."

I touched his arm again and he flinched away.

"I don't need your pity. I know it was Chandra and now I'm prepared."

"I'm not pitying you. I think that you're hurt so you're covering it up with all the anger you have towards her," my arm fell lifelessly back to my side.

"You're scared. You think she's gonna send me off the deep end, huh?"

I didn't say anything and he turned to finally face me. Damon grabbed my arm, a bit tight and stared into my blue eyes intensely.

"Why- why is it such a shock that I would kiss you?"

My lips parted and my hand went up to hold Damon's forearm.

"I-I-" I started to say, when someone cleared their throat.

Our heads whipped around to see Alaric in some workout clothes, standing by the fountain a bit awkwardly.

Blood rushed to my cold face and Damon's hand snapped away from me, lightning fast.

"Damon… Caroline," Alaric said, slowly. He eyed the both of us, a bit curiously, but didn't say anything.

It made me wonder how much he actually saw.

"You ready?" Alaric said to me and I glanced at Damon's face.

"Uh- yeah."

Deep down, I knew the conversation between Damon and I needed to be finished, but I honestly didn't know how I felt about him. Did I have feelings for him? Did I just like the attention?

"We'll finish this later, Blondie," Damon said roughly. He quickly turned and headed to the liquor store, where I assumed he was going to buy a bottle of bourbon to drink.

When he was out of human earshot, Alaric frowned. "What was that all about?"

~0~

 **Third Person POV**

Damon's emotions whirled through his head as he replayed the kiss and the conversation that had just happened. Caroline's reaction wasn't what he'd expected – he honestly didn't know how she'd react, once he figured out it wasn't her – but surprise wasn't it. He'd heard her heart rate increase and he noticed her face flush, but she didn't seem disgusted or mad.

Going into the living room, he walked over to the bar cart and poured himself a drink, still in a daze, he went to walk out when he noticed her.

"Very brave of you to come here," he murmured, pausing in the doorway. "Stupid, but brave."

Chandra crossed her legs and smiled innocently from her place on the couch. She was wondering how long it would take for him to notice her.

"I simply came to say goodbye, Damon," she practically purred, sipping from her own cup of bourbon she'd swiped before he arrived.

"You?" Damon scoffed, throwing up a façade of emotionlessness. "Leave so soon? Puh-lease. You and Katherine are just getting started, I'm sure."

Chandra stood up and Damon walked over to her, stealing the cup of bourbon and taking a long swig.

"I know where I'm not wanted," Chandra said, batting her eyelashes. "Katherine's not really feeling Mystic Falls much either."

Scowling, Damon set the glass down on the coffee table. "Don't pout. It's not attractive on a woman your age."

Chandra chuckled and picked up her black leather jacket, draping it across her arm. It was then Damon noticed what she was wearing, a pair of tight army green jeans and a lace-up, skin tight charcoal gray top. He swallowed thickly and forced himself to walk away.

In the blink of an eye, Chandra was in front of him.

"What, no goodbye kiss?" She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "C'mon Damon, you liked kissing me a few nights ago, I'm sure you'll love it now."

She paused a beat, watching his scowl deepen. "I'll let you pretend I'm Caroline if you want."

Her expression changed to one that was more like Caroline, kinder and more human. For a moment it reminded him of when he was human and in love with Chandra. Then, anger washed over him like a tsunami. He'd had enough of being toyed with for tonight. He wasn't thinking clearly, he'd lost count of how many drinks he'd had and she was too…beautiful for his own good.

"Why don't I kill you instead?" he retorted, glaring at her.

The vampiric expression snapped back.

"What are you really doing here, Chandra?"

She smirked and twirled a strand of her wavy blonde hair. "Nostalgia, curiosity, et cetera."

Damon growled, rolling his eyes. "I'm better at the one liners, you're sounding like Katherine. What are you two up to?"

"Trust me, Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know," she stepped closer, now just an arm's length away. "Come on. Kiss me…or kill me. Which one, Damon? I know you're capable of choosing."

The blonde stepped even closer, moving her face close to his. Their lips were so close he could feel her breath on his lips. The urge deep inside him fought to break free, but he managed to keep it down. This was the woman who killed him, indirectly. She had ruined his life. Played him. Hurt him. Compelled him.

 _Yet he still felt for her._

Turning on his heel, he walked the other direction, only to be shoved to the ground a split second later.

Chandra straddled his hips and laid herself on top of him, gently kissing up his neck. She rubbed his shoulder slowly.

"My sweet, innocent Damon."

Damon forcefully flipped them over and grabbed her by the throat, staring down into her blue eyes.

 _They aren't as gray as Caroline's_. He found himself thinking.

Before he could stop himself, he kissed her passionately.

"That's more like it," Chandra gasped between kisses.

They fought for dominance, their makeout session tearing throughout the living room.

"Okay, wait, pause," Damon said, quickly putting about six feet of distance between them.

The blonde stood there, staring at him, an uninterested look on her face.

"I have one question," he explained. "Answer this question right and I'll forget the last 145 years. I'll forget all the compelled feelings, the love, the longing. We can start over. We have the time, Chan."

Her face changed when he used the nickname he'd given her when they first met. It softened, if only for a brief moment.

He went back over to her, cupping her soft face in his hands. "I need the truth, just this once."

She stepped back, adjusting her ripped shirt. "Stop, Damon. You already know the truth. I never loved you like that. Maybe if Klaus hadn't come before you…" She sighed. "It's always been Klaus."

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

Today was going by so fast! I thought as I glanced at the clock. It's already 8.

Zach wasn't home yet and I was tired of sitting around doing absolutely nothing but trying to _not_ think about Damon.

I felt around for my cellphone on the couch. I'd spent the last three hours binge-watching Gilmore Girls, and I was starting to get hungry.

Once I found it wedged between cushions, I picked it up and called Stefan.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, is Zach over there?" I asked Stefan. "Zach left a note saying he was going to swing by the boarding house to pick up some stuff after he got off at 7."

" _Sorry, Care, I'm not there right now. Are you going to swing by? There's some food in the kitchen that Elena and I left last night; you two are more then welcome to eat it."_

I shrugged, forgetting he couldn't see me. "Yeah, I probably will. I'm tired of being cooped up in here."

I got to my feet and slipped on my ankle boots. "I need to talk to you at some point, Damon told me what happened with him and Chandra, and I want your advice on it."

" _Alright,"_ Stefan said, pausing to say something to Elena, I assumed. _"Hey, I'm going to let you go, let me know if you need me."_

"Okay, bye Stefan!"

~0~

I arrived at the boarding house about fifteen minutes later. After calling Zach, who was already here, I had him look to see what food Stefan was talking about.

I went inside the kitchen and pulled out the leftover container of grilled chicken and vegetables.

"Zach?" I called, looking around and into the small, unused dining room. "Are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" he called back from wherever.

A few moments later he came through the doorway into the dining room. "There's only a few couple of slices left. I'm still boxing up my work stuff, did you want to eat that and I can grab something on the way home?"

Zach had a broken down box shoved under his arm and looked a bit tired.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry?" I asked uncertainly. "I could run to the store and grab something to make with it…"

He shook his head. "No, it's okay, I had a late lunch."

"Okay…" I trailed off. "I'll eat this then. See you at home?"

He bobbed his head. "Sounds good. You going to stick around and eat here?"

"Yeah, I might hang out in the living room or head up to my room."

He flashed me a thumbs up before exiting the kitchen.

After heating up the chicken and vegetables, I made my way into the living room to eat.

The house was too quiet, I decided halfway through my meal. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up my Netflix app, deciding to watch some more Gilmore Girls.

I had just finished the episode when my phone's screen went black.

Aw man, did it die? I smashed down the power button only to see a small battery with a charger outline underneath it.

 _Yep, dead._

Sighing, I decided to go up to my old room to hangout for a bit more. I was feeling a bit nostalgic.

After going up the stairs and slipping into my room, I fished out a pair of yoga pants I'd left in my chest of drawers. I went into the bathroom to put them on. When I got back, Damon was sitting on my old bed, much to my surprise.

"Damon," I said, surprised. "You scared me."

He didn't move, staring out my window, his back to me.

"Just doing my part in the good ole neighborhood watch," he said, his voice monotone.

I frowned, wondering why he was so uncharacteristically somber. I walked around him, my folded up pair of black jeans in my hand. I went over to my drawers beside the window and placed the jeans inside the middle drawer.

"Thanks," I hesitantly said. "For, uh, looking out for me…and Zach." I turned around to lean on the dresser and look at him.

"That's me," he still gazed out into the dark night. "Your trusty bodyguard. Calm in crisis."

I took a deep breath and frowned, suddenly smelling alcohol.

"You've been drinking."  
It wasn't a question, I knew he had been. And it wasn't because of the pungent smell radiating from him - or because I saw him headed to the liquor store this morning. I knew because it was Damon.

He finally turned to gaze up at me, eyebrows rising a little. He held his thumb and index finger closely together, indicating 'a little'.

I sighed, wondering if anything else had happened since I'd last seen him. "And you're upset. That's not a good combination, Damon." I gently said. I went over beside him, crouching down to remove a box from under my bed.

Damon's gaze went to the window again.

"No, I'm not upset," he said. "Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

I pulled the box out and set it on top of my bed, a couple of feet from his side. Fishing out a charger, I frowned.

"C'mon Damon," I turned around to plug in my phone. "Stop lying to me. We're friends. I know you care."

When I turned around and went back over to lean against the dresser across from him, he was looking at me.

I could see him toying with some idea in his head, and it made me nervous. I knew our conversation from this morning was nowhere near finished, but I honestly wasn't ready to finish it just quite yet. I hadn't made myself sit down and write in my journal – write out my feelings. I knew after I did that and was honest with myself, I would know how I felt.

"Why were you so surprised that I thought you would kiss me back?"

His voice tore through my thoughts and I turned my gaze to meet his steely one.

"You can't imagine that I believed that you would want to?"

I blinked rapidly, nibbling on my lip. "Damon…"

He continued, getting up. "That what we've been doing here means _something_? You're the liar, Caroline."

He took a step closer, now almost in arm's reach. "There is something going on between us and you know it."

My breath caught in my throat.

 _He's right_. A tiny voice inside me said. _He healed you, he cares about you. You felt something during the dance for Miss Mystic_. _You care about him too, you're just too afraid._

"And you're lying to me. You're avoiding your feelings and most importantly, you're lying to yourself." He stepped closer. "I can prove it."

I heard my breath quiver and I shook my head.

I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I thought, butterflies fluttering, heart racing.

Damon grabbed my face in his hands and smashed his lips against mine. I tensed, not expecting him to kiss me, yet expecting him to at the same time. My hands went up and wrapped around his wrists.

Still tense, I gently took a step back, pulling my face out of his hands. My butt bumped against the dresser.

"Damon," I said, gulping nervously when he stepped closer, cupping my face again. "Don't, please, not like this."

My words seemed to go over his head and his eyes searched my face. "Lie about _this_."

His face got closer to mine and I pulled my head back, straining. I felt pinned between him and the dresser.

"Stop it," I cried out, beginning to panic. "You're better than this, Damon."

He backed away for a moment and I relaxed briefly.

His gaze was still hungry and his hands move to hold my shoulders.

"That's where you're wrong."

He moved forward, quickly. This time I was expecting it, so I pushed him back, but had no luck.

The dresser thudded against the wall as my weight went back against it.

"No, no, no, Damon!" I pushed again, fighting him. "I care about you, okay? Listen to me!"

He grabbed my wrists, staring deeply into my eyes.

"I care about you, I do…but I'm not… I don't…" I struggled to find the words to explain.

Damon's lip curled, but he was interrupted by someone at my bedroom door.

"Caroline?" a British accent cut through and my bedroom door swung open. "Love? What's going on?"

Damon turned around and I gazed over his shoulder to look at my rescuer, Klaus.

"Nothing, Klaus," I ripped my arms out of Damon's grasp and stepped to the left, towards the window. "What are you doing here?"

Klaus looked curiously at me and then glared at Damon. "Clearly it's not nothing." He moved quickly to Damon. "What's going on, mate?"

"It's none of your business," Damon growled. "Go away."

"No," he retorted, crossing his arms. "I'm here to talk to Caroline, not you."

Damon turned around, crossing his arms, yet not budging.

"What about?" I asked, ignoring Damon.

"Yesterday, at the Lockwood's." He explained. "We kissed."

In the brief seconds between Klaus saying that and Damon tackling him, I wondered how much of the conversation Klaus had heard.

I wondered if he knew that Chandra was back and I wondered if he was trying to make him snap. I wondered if he knew that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Either way, he said it and this incited Damon to try and tackle him, shoving him against the wall.

"That's no way to treat a lady, mate," Klaus snarled, easily flipping them around and keeping Damon pinned against the wall.

Damon's wild gaze snapped to me.

"You- you kissed him?" he was clearly baffled and hurt from this. "You'll kiss him, but not me?"

Klaus smirked devilishly. "Oh yeah mate, she kissed me. It was quite fiery if I do say so myself."

My mouth dropped open. _Chandra._

"That wasn't me," I quickly explained. "Chandra is back in town, it was her."

Damon suddenly reached over to my desk and ripped the lamp from the wall and smashed it over Klaus' head. This quick movement gave him the upper hand. That, and the fact that Klaus was gawking at me like I had just suggested that the sky was not blue. With a quick twist of his hands, he snapped Klaus' neck, temporarily incapacitating him.

Klaus fell to the floor and Damon disappeared, only to reappear a moment later, Zach in his grasp.

"Lie to me again, Caroline," Damon spat as Zach stared around, clearly equal parts confused and terrified. "Lie to me again. Give me a reason to kill your godfather."

Zach clawed at Damon's hands around his neck.

"Caroline," Zach gasped out.

I rushed over to Damon, tears flowing freely from my eyes.

"Damon, please, _please,_ " I pleaded, hands reaching out to him. "Please don't kill my godfather. He's all I have left."

He didn't move, still stared at me with that wild look in his eyes.

"If you ever want to have any chance with me, you won't kill him," my voice trembled as I watched the color drain from Zach's face.

 _He must be holding him too tightly._

I glanced quickly at Klaus, who was still not moving.

"Damon," I said again, getting closer. "You're hurting him."

Zach crumpled in his arms and Damon looked at me once last time before fleeing.

I let out a big breath of relief and ran to his side, kneeling down.

My fingers felt for a pulse and I let out a sob when I felt one.

Pulling his body into my lap, I cried.

~0~

Klaus was the first to come to, awaking with a low groan.

I was still in tears when he awoke.

"Caroline?" Klaus mumbled, sitting up. "Is he all right?"

I sniffled and nodded. "I-I think so."

Klaus got to his feet and he walked over to me. "Let me move him to the bed, love."

I gently set Zach's head onto the carpeted floor and allowed Klaus to pick his limp body up and move him to the bed.

"He should be awake soon," he murmured, laying him down.

Tears continued to stream down my face and I quickly tried to wipe them away.

Klaus turned to me and his expression softened. "Come here, love."

Although Klaus was usually the last person I would go to for comfort, I allowed him to wrap his arms around me. I hugged him back, knowing my tears were staining his shirt.

"D-do you still want to talk?" I asked. "You said Chandra kissed you?"

He chuckled wryly and I pulled away. We sat on the edge of my old bed.

"She approached me at the Lockwood wake and said she wanted to talk…" Klaus continued to explain what happened.

"And so, you kissed her- thinking it was me?" I asked quietly, not looking at him.

He didn't say anything so I glanced over at him, and I saw that he was nodding.

I scoffed, mumbling under my breath, "What is it with so many men suddenly trying to kiss me?"

Klaus laughed, and I looked curiously at him. He was smirking, as usual.

"History, it repeats itself," He simply said, suddenly turning to glance at Zach. "He's waking up."

Klaus and I got to our feet and I went over to Zach's side.

I turned around to thank Klaus, but he was already gone.

"Zach?" I murmured.

My godfather groaned and started to sit up.

"No, no, no, stay laying down." I chastised, gently pushing him down.

"What happened?" he rasped, rubbing his jugular.

I explained to him the whole situation about Chandra and Damon _and_ Klaus.

Zach frowned deeply and gave me a serious look. "Care, this is why I moved us away from here. Damon is bad news."

Despite Damon's actions, I felt the need to defend him. "He was drunk and hurt. I think Klaus and Chandra have more history and hearing Klaus say that we kissed set him off completely."

"It doesn't excuse his actions."

I took a deep breath. "I know."

* * *

Well, what do you think? Let me know in the review section! Getting emails letting me know that all you wonderful people have reviewed/favorited/followed literally makes me so happy and I usually tend to write faster when I get them. ;)

kim


	4. A Brave New World

_Previously..._

 _"She approached me at the Lockwood wake and said she wanted to talk…" Klaus continued to explain what happened._

 _"And so, you kissed her- thinking it was me?" I asked quietly, not looking at him._

 _He didn't say anything so I glanced over at him, and I saw that he was nodding._

 _I scoffed, mumbling under my breath, "What is it with so many men suddenly trying to kiss me?"_

 _Klaus laughed, and I looked curiously at him. He was smirking, as usual._

 _"History, it repeats itself," He simply said, suddenly turning to glance at Zach. "He's waking up."_

 _Klaus and I got to our feet and I went over to Zach's side._

 _I turned around to thank Klaus, but he was already gone._

 _"Zach?" I murmured._

 _My godfather groaned and started to sit up._

 _"No, no, no, stay laying down." I chastised, gently pushing him down._

 _"What happened?" he rasped, rubbing his jugular._

 _I explained to him the whole situation about Chandra and Damon and Klaus._

 _Zach frowned deeply and gave me a serious look. "Care, this is why I moved us away from here. Damon is bad news."_

 _Despite Damon's actions, I felt the need to defend him. "He was drunk and hurt. I think Klaus and Chandra have more history and hearing Klaus say that we kissed set him off completely."_

 _"It doesn't excuse his actions."_

 _I took a deep breath. "I know."_

* * *

 **Caroline's POV**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _It's me again. Sorry it's been a bit. Things have been… crazy to say the least. Chandra is back in town and she seems so intent to stir up drama and chaos in our lives. She kissed Damon AND Klaus - and of course both of them thought it was me kissing them._

I stopped writing for a moment, chewing lightly on the end of my pen. Zach and I were home now, I was tucked away on my bed and I assumed Zach was somewhere, asleep.

 _I don't know if I can even wrap my brain around everything I've been feeling. I don't even know if I'm capable of knowing what I feel._

I continued writing, deciding to write out my feelings more.

 _I know when Damon kissed me, I was scared…but was I scared because it was a forced kiss, or was I scared because it was our first kiss? I know I wish that him forcing himself on me wasn't our first kiss. I'd much rather our first kiss be something special/consensual._

 _Not having a really serious relationship or crush on anyone ever kind of makes it hard to figure out what I'm feeling too. Damon is handsome, yes, but he's also ageless and rash. I could honestly sit here for hours and write out how amazing he is, but sometimes I worry the pros and cons wouldn't balance out._

A little voice in my head told me that I still wasn't being honest with myself.

 _Future self reading this, I'm resisting the urge to just scribble out everything above this._

I hovered my pen over the old entry, resisting the urge to scribble out all my confusion.

It's not like it would make the feelings go away.

 _I'm still young. Our friendship is still growing. Mom always said not to get ahead of myself when it came to boys._

I slammed my diary shut, frustrated and sleepy.

~0~

A couple of days passed and before I knew it, the day of the carnival was here.

Although I hadn't been planning for it as neurotically as usual, I was glad for the distraction. Damon and I seemed to have a mutual, unspoken agreement to avoid each other; and I was happy for that. I had more important things to focus on then Damon or Klaus and my awkward relationship with them.

Bonnie and I stood in the sunlit hall of Mystic Falls High, boxes piled outside the storage room in front of us. Elena had sent us both to collect the stray decorations and supplies needed to set off the carnival with a bang.

Bonnie was rambling on about how creepy it was that Chandra and Katherine looked exactly like us.

"Your vampire ancestors didn't just resemble you all like a family member! It was like they were you!"

I sighed, shutting the door. I'd figured Bonnie wouldn't take the whole doppelganger thing well. She didn't do well knowing that there were vampires in town – and now these new vampires looked just like her best friends? Not good.

Before Bonnie could continue on about how scary it was, I picked up two of the boxes and turned my body partially away.

"Bonnie, I know it's scary and it sucks not-knowing when they're being me, but I have to get these prizes to the ring toss," I readjusted the weight in my arms. "Life goes on."

My witchy friend seemed to get the picture on the whole doppelganger front, but didn't seem to want to move away from the topic of drama in general. The school bell rang and we hurried to get out of the hallways. Bonnie, Elena and I had gotten a free 'get out of school' pass to help with the carnival, but all the kids not associated with it had to stay in class. It was just a normal Friday, after all.

We got to the side door and Bonnie piped back up.

"Have you talked to Damon since he almost killed Zach?"

I pushed open the door leading to the courtyard surrounding the gym, back parking lot and main building.

I sighed. "No, Bonnie. I haven't," we passed by a group of people, thankfully giving me more than a few moments to collect my thoughts. "I haven't even seen Klaus either. I just want to avoid them both right now and focus on doing all the mundane human stuff I can."

We went down the couple of stone steps that descended from the side of the gym to the parking lot by the fields where all the carnival stuff was already set up.

"Okay," she said, finally seeming to understand I wanted a distraction from all of it. "I'll help you focus on carnival stuff then. Just let me know if you need anything or someone to listen, okay?"

By now, we were already at the backside of the ring toss booth.

Walking around the side, I set the box full of corny stuffed animals just inside the little door leading into the back half of the booth.

"Thanks Bonnie," I smiled at my friend, knowing she did mean well. "I might take you up on that."

It was nice knowing that she was back to being friendly, seeming to finally have taken a break on being weird about vampires.

~0~

 **Third Person POV**

Inside the high school, Stefan met Jeremy at his locker. Elena had requested that he give Jeremy vervain after the crap Damon pulled on Zach. Stefan couldn't have agreed more with his girlfriend - with both Chandra and Katherine in town, Damon suddenly going after Caroline and Zach…

Stefan had just gotten done explaining vervain to Jeremy when the younger boy piped up.

"You know, you must be pretty confident in yourself, since you're giving me so many different ways to kill you."

Stefan chuckled. "We'd be having a much different conversation if I thought that you wanted to kill me."

Jeremy eyed his sister's boyfriend, shoving the little vial into his jacket pocket. "If anyone deserves it, it's Damon."

Jer slammed his locker shut. "Is it bad I wasn't surprised when Elena told me what he did to Caroline and Zach?"

Stefan sighed, raking a hand through his brown hair. "Not really. Damon's in a weird mood right now. Chandra coming back into town really threw him off balance."

~0~

Meanwhile, Damon was busy worming his way into Carol Lockwood's trust.

"I promise that I'll get to the bottom of the John Gilbert attack, okay?" Damon said reassuringly. "Sheriff Bennett asked me to take lead on it."

Damon and Carol were sitting in the Lockwood's living room, chatting about how John had left town due to the vampire cutting off his fingers.

While Damon knew for a fact that it was the ever so vindictive Katherine that did the chopping, Carol was none the wiser.

"Oh, Damon," Carol said, happy that she didn't have to deal with it. "Be careful, okay?"

He patted the older woman's hand and nodded.

Damon went to stand up, only to have Carol stop him.

"One more thing before you leave."

The man sat back down, turning to look at the lady curiously. "Of course, go on."

"I have to act as interim mayor with Richard gone," she explained, although Damon already knew this. "Since I'm going to have that new role to fill until elections, I would love it if you would spearhead the council for me."

Damon pretended to be shocked. Of course she would want him to be in charge of the council, he had made sure he was one of the only people suited for the job.

The vampire smiled handsomely. "Oh, Carol, whatever you need me to do, I'll do. As a founding family member, it's something very close to me. I would be more then honored to keep this town safe from vampires."

The front door slammed shut and Carol got up to shut the glass doors leading into the living room.

"Is it safe to talk?" Damon asked, knowing who had come in.

"It's just Tyler and my brother-in-law, Mason." She explained to him. "He's still visiting."

After Carol shut the doors, she turned around to lean against them. "I just don't want him to hear us. He didn't want anything to do with it when he lived here, so I don't see any reason to bring him into it now."

Damon wasn't listening much to Carol at this point. He had his hearing trained on the two men from the moment they came in.

They had been talking about their workout when suddenly something Mason said piqued his interest.

"So all this anger and aggression you've had, is there a difference when you exercise?"

"Dude, I play three varsity sports, workout four times a week and run three. I'm gonna say no." Tyler said, stretching out his legs.

"Do you have episodes, what happens exactly?"

Damon, meanwhile, frowned to himself.

Why was the uncle so concerned about Tyler's apparent mood swings?

"Starts out normal," Tyler explained. "I get angry over nothing."

He shrugged, thinking for a beat before continuing. "I'm an angry guy, it know it just amplifies and I just go off."

"You black out?" Mason asked.

Damon personally thought that something was up with Mason. He seemed too interested in something as simple as a teenage boy's emotions for there not to be something else at play.

Tyler agreed with Mason's question and Mason went on. "Is there a pattern? Like once a month, only at night?"

Damon frowned deeper, though Carol didn't even seem to notice.

"All I know is that I lose myself, you know? For a little while I'm something else and I hate it."

Damon's name being spoken made him snap back to the room he was in.

With a quick glance at the tea kettle in Carol's hand, Damon assumed she was asking if he wanted more tea.

"Oh, yes please. Thank you Carol."

~0~

The school day was over and Elena and Caroline stayed behind to work on the last finishing touches. However, Stefan headed home to change clothes and check in on Damon.

Stefan managed to walk into the living room just as Damon was pouring a blood bag into a glass.

The smell hit Stefan's nose and he resisted the urge to indulge in the smell. Although Stefan had just ate, he still hated the allure of human blood.

"Care for one?" Damon asked, already knowing Stefan's answer would be no.

Damon smirked as Stefan shook his head. "No thank you. I'm not hungry, just ate."

The elder brother swirled the blood around in the glass before taking a sip. "Aren't you worried that one day, all the forest animals are going to band together and fight back? I mean, surely they talk!"

Stefan smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm just happy that's a blood bag and not some sorority girl supplying your dinner." He came to rest on the arm of the couch in front of Damon.

Damon chuckled, taking another drink.

"I like this," he walked around the side of the couch, stopping to lean on the back of the chair across from Stefan. "You, walking on egg shells around me because you think I'm going to explode." He jutted his eyebrows up, smirking. "Is Blondie worried too? I'm bet I'm her every conversation with you."

Stefan clenched his jaw, changing the subject. "Have you spoken to Chandra or Katherine?"

Damon didn't answer his brother's question and instead decided to tell Stefan about the Lockwoods.

"You know, I think the Lockwoods have a family secret…the Gilbert device affected them, but vervain didn't." he turned his head to the side, still smiling. "So they aren't vampires…they're something else."

Stefan snorted. "Oh good, you have a new obsession."

"You'd rather some unknown supernatural element run rampant upon our town?" He mused. "Fine. I'll drop it, but then my attention is going to…" he paused for a moment, grinning devilishly. "Care-o-line."

Damon sung out every syllable of the blonde's name and Stefan worked his jaw angrily.

"You know we haven't seen the last of Katherine and Chandra, right? We don't have a clue why they're here." Stefan said, forcing himself to be calm. He knew Damon was just trying to work him up.

"Sure we do! Katherine came back to profess her undying love for you and Chandra came back to be a bitch and _finally_ push me over the edge and explode," Damon stood up, raising his glass to his brother. "Cheers."

~0~

Bonnie and Elena stood outside one of the booths, clipboards in hand.

They were chit chatting about what stalls needed what refilled when Caroline popped up.

"Hey ladies!"

"Hi Care," Bonnie chimed back.

"This is a huge success!" Caroline said, grinning widely. "Thank you two…really. Thank you for letting me help with this. I know I've been dealing with a lot of stuff recently and I kind of threw myself into the carnival last minute- but thank you. Really."

Elena forced a smile onto her face. "It's okay Care."

Bonnie bobbed her head in agreement.

Suddenly, a man caught Elena's attention. A college aged student was up on a ladder, fixing a speaker.

"Hey," she called. "Carter right?

~0~

Back at the Lockwood mansion, Mason was waiting on his nephew to come down from his room so the pair could go to the carnival together. Mason lingered outside his deceased brother's office for a moment.

He could hear Tyler still rummaging around upstairs, but he was still nervous. Swallowing his nerves, he quickly entered the office and started rummaging around, looking for something.

Mason was so engrossed in his search, he didn't even hear Tyler descend to the ground floor.

He lingered outside for a beat, curiously watching his uncle rummage through his father's things, which hadn't yet been touched.

"What are you doing?"

Mason jumped at the sound of Tyler's voice and he whirled around, straightening quickly.

"Nothing!" he said, a little too quickly. "Just killing time, waiting for you to get done."

Tyler frowned, staring at Mason for a moment. "Are you looking for something?"

Mason paused, running his fingers against the barely dusty bookshelf. After briefly weighing the options, he decided to be honest. Maybe Tyler would help him.

"Yeah, actually," he went over to where Tyler was standing by the large desk. "You know where I can find any family artifact stuff? Heirlooms?"

Tyler's face instantly softened, his defenses dropping. "You drain your trust fund already?" he joked.

Mason grinned, shrugging. "I did that when I was 22."

Growing a bit more serious, he continued. "No, I'm just looking for this old piece of my mom's. My dad gave it to her when they first got married. It's sentimental value. She probably passed it down to your dad. I thought it could maybe still be in the house somewhere."

Mason's nephew furrowed his brow. "I can't think of anything like that. What's it look like?"

"It's a moon stone, maybe hockey puck sized. Old, ugly, minimal value…"

At this point, Tyler had stopped caring. "Hey man, whatever. Try asking my mom I guess."

~0~

Back at the carnival, Zach and Caroline were moseying around, enjoying the atmosphere. The pair split up; Caroline went to the restroom while Zach bought popcorn for them to share.

"Good ole' Uncle Zach!" Damon's voice cut through the chatter of the carnival and Zach's head whipped around to see Damon.

Zach took a few steps away from the popcorn cart, warily eyeing the crowd. He partially wanted Caroline to show up and give Damon a piece of her mind, yet he also wanted her to stay far away from Damon.

"Hello, Damon," Zach greeted evenly. "Aren't you a bit old for a high school carnival?"

Damon smirked. "Heh. A hundred and fifty years too old, my dear great-nephew."

The vampire reached over a snagged a handful of Zach's popcorn, already popping a few pieces in his mouth.

"Can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you tormented me enough?" Zach grumbled, debating walking away.

Damon hummed for a moment. "Nope."

"Don't make me tell Carol what you really are, Damon." Zach said before he could stop himself. He knew it was an extremely stupid idea to threaten Damon, yet what did he do? Threaten Damon.

Damon gripped Zach's arm tightly, leading him over towards the restrooms, where there was less people. "This is what we aren't going do to," he started. "We aren't going to threaten the one person who has already almost killed you this week."

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

Wiping my still damp hands off on my pants, I exited the restroom. My eyes widened when I saw Damon and Zach standing there, both tense.

"Damon," I said, breaking their suddenly silence. "Let him go."

Damon's wild blue eyes my mine. "Caroline," he murmured. "Please tell your godfather it isn't a good idea to threaten me."

I studied Damon for a moment, the memory of his lips on mine playing over and over in my head.

"Let Zach go, Damon. Haven't you done enough damage yet?"

Damon's fingers uncurled from around Zach's arm and my godfather took a step back.

"Damage?" Damon snorted, although he had listened to me. "Don't tempt me to create some _real_ damage, Caroline."

I swallowed and took a couple of steps over to Zach.

"C'mon Zach, let's go."

~0~

 **Third Person POV**

Damon wandered over to the arm wrestling booth, where Tyler was winning left and right. He was curious as to how the human was winning so much. At first he wondered if it was rigged, but upon further inspection from different sides of the ring, he decided that there was no way. Damon recalled Mason and Tyler's conversation from earlier and frowned.

"You're lurking," Stefan said, approaching his brother.

"I'm observing," Damon responded, still fascinated at the teenager's winning streak.

"More like obsessing," Stefan watched alongside his brother as Tyler won, yet again.

"He has strength, I'll give him that much." Damon murmured.

Part of him wanted to go into the ring and go against Tyler, but the other part of him didn't want to risk giving anything away. It wasn't like he expected Tyler to instantly know that he was a vampire, but with his uncle poking his nose into everything…

"Tyler is a triple letter varsity athlete, of course he's strong. You're reaching."

Damon heard Stefan's response, but he was more interested in Mason's suddenly arrival into the arm wrestling ring.

"I bet I can take you!" Mason exclaimed, sliding into the seat across from Tyler.

"Enter the uncle," Damon said quietly to his brother, still enthralled at the Lockwood's strength.

When Mason won, Damon knew something _had_ to be up with the Lockwoods. The device effected the mayor and Tyler, but they weren't vampires…

"Okay, he's the champ!" Tyler announced, admitting defeat. "Who wants to go next?"

"Stefan wants to go!" Damon chimed in, pushing his brother forward before he could protest.

Normally, Stefan wouldn't want to risk any kind of exposure, but he had to admit that he was intrigued, just like his brother.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot." Stefan took a seat across from Mason as Damon cheered him on.

"My brother over there things I can beat you," Stefan murmured to Mason, who smirked.

"Your brother is wrong."

They started to wrestle and after a few tense seconds, Mason won, forcing Stefan's arm down onto the table.

Stef eyed the winner for a moment before smiling and nodding and rejoining Damon.

"You didn't put in _any_ effort at all!" Damon growled, a bit annoyed.

Stefan frowned. "Actually, Damon. I did."

Damon looked taken aback. "Come with me."  
They slipped into the empty hallway of the high school.

"Is he…?" Damon asked, trailing off.

"No, no," Stefan said, trying to think of how to describe Mason's strength. "It wasn't that kind of strength…it was more than a normal human's though…"

"What is up with that family?" Damon wondered aloud, mostly to himself.

His mind still went back to Mason's weird questions about Tyler's anger.

Stefan was joking about what they might be when Damon saw a kid just outside working on the back half of the wrestling booth.

"What, what are you up to?" Stefan asked, following Damon outside.

"This is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or…combat turtles." Damon said offhandedly.

"I said ninja turtles, actually," Stefan replied, wary of Damon's sudden interest in the human.

"Hey you!" Damon called to Carter, the same boy who had helped Elena and Bonnie earlier.

"I have a name," Carter said, cocking an eyebrow as he came over to Damon.

Yeah, I don't care." Damon caught the boy's shoulders and began to compel him. "I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon!" Stefan exclaimed, watching with horror. "Don't do this."

He released Carter with his hands, but continued talking, ignoring his baby brother. "It's just an experiment. Get him angry, don't back down no matter what, ok?"

Carter repeated, "I won't back down," almost robotically.

Damon smirked, clapping Carter briefly on the shoulder before he left

 _I know you won't, kid._

"You do realize that someone is gonna get hurt, right?"

Damon snorted. "No, someone's gonna get mad, as in rage."

The younger Salvatore frowned. "What's that going to accomplish?"

"That Tyler kid is physically incapable of walking from a fight. Let's see who decides to intervene; maybe it's the ambiguous, supernatural mystery uncle!" Damon wiggled his brows, leaving his brother to follow Carter.

~0~

Damon was leaned against the wall, still inside the high school, when a familiar blonde came inside.

"Damon," her voice was full of distress as she stumbled into the dark hallway. The light from outside shined in through the windows, casting black shadows over her face. The sharp smell of iron hit Damon's nose and his eyes widened.

"Blondie?" Damon asked, catching the girl as she went into his arms. "What?"

Although Damon was kicking himself for sounding so worried and so human, he honestly was concerned for the usually fiery girl.

"Why do you smell like blood, Care?" Damon's arms were wrapped around the blonde as he stared down at the top of her head. She didn't answer, simply remained in his grasp, strangely quiet and still.

She looked up into his face for a moment, her skin a strange, pale, gray. Damon's eyes searched hers, noticing that they too, were a strange color.

"Caroline?" Damon felt the girl go limp and he quickly bent down, setting the blonde's body to the ground. The moment she was laid down, a bright light flashed and the body morphed into a pile of hay, caked in blood.

Damon frowned, quickly stepping away.

"What the?"

A stopwatch was laid in the middle, where her heart would have been, counting down minutes. A few blonde strands were seemingly fused around the loop at the top of the watch.

 _Something smells witchy to me._

" _Game on, Damon."_

A disembodied voice floated to Damon's ears and he leapt to his feet.

 _He had to find Caroline - and fast._

~0~

Stefan trailed Tyler, knowing that Carter couldn't be too far off. The Lockwood was walking through the parking lot, mostly paying attention to his phone.

Carter intentionally came from the opposite direction and bumped into Tyler roughly as he passed.

"Watch where you're going, man," Tyler called to the guy.

"You got a problem?" Carter retorted, the compulsion taking over.

Carter stopped and turned to walk back towards Tyler.

"Yeah," Tyler said in disbelief. "You walked _right_ into me."

"What are you going to do about it?" Carter challenged, staring Tyler down.

Stefan knew he should probably do something, but deep down, he was curious. It's not like the compulsion could be taken away or anything anyway.

Just like Damon suspected, right as the fight started to get serious, Mason leapt into action.

~0~

 **Caroline's POV**

"Caroline!" Damon's voice cut into the conversation I was having with some of my friends from my chemistry class last year.

"Hold on a second guys," I said to the group. "Let me deal with Damon."

The group nodded and went back to chit chatting.

"What do you want, Damon?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked up into Damon's face and frowned, not liking the look I saw.

Damon looked spooked, yet also relieved.

Spooked and relieved at what, I couldn't tell.

Damon studied my face for a moment, still acting strange. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to see or talk to right now, but I need you to come with me."

I snorted, shifting my weight to my other food. "Well it sucks for you, because we don't always get what we want."

I turned away, only to have Damon reach out and grab my arm, just like he had done to Zach earlier.

"Let me go, damn it," I grumbled under my breath, tugging at his grasp.

"Caroline," he said, urgently.

When I still resisted, he sighed, fishing his phone out of my pocket. He pulled up a picture and showed it to me.

I peered at it skeptically. "Okay, so it's a pile of hay from the haunted house, fake blood and a stop watch. So what?"

Damon explained to me what he had seen and heard and my eyes widened.

"What's going on?"

"C'mon," Damon simply said, leading me away.

"Where are we going, Damon?" I asked as he tugged me through the crowd.

I had partially expected for him to let go of me, but whatever he'd seen had obviously spooked him enough to not want me out of his grasp.

"Damon!" I protested again as he opened the side door to the school and led me down the dark hall.

We entered Alaric's classroom and Damon shut the door behind him.

"We're going to wait for Stefan to get here. Then we're going to figure out what the hell this all means."

I stared at him, trying to get a read on his emotions. "Damon, am I in danger? You still haven't told me what's going on!" he was silent. "What do you think is going on?"

"I'm not sure what's going on, but the voodoo doll that died in my arms looked just like you, okay?" Damon said, staring out the window, his back to me. "I had flashbacks of Chandra."

I almost missed the last part of what he said. I was just about to say something when Stefan came into the room.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked almost immediately. "Caroline?"

I shrugged, looking to Damon for explanation. He explained what had happened in the hallway and Stefan frowned.

"If I'm not mistaken, it would have to be Caroline's blood for it to be anything serious."

I looked to Damon and then to Stefan, waiting for one of them to say something.

"Would someone _please_ tell me if my life is suddenly in danger?"

Damon stared at me for a moment.

"You won't be in any danger if I do this," he suddenly was in front of me, his eyes dark. He ripped into his wrist and before I knew it, he was shoving it again my lips.

I pressed my lips together, not wanting what he was trying to do. I screeched, lips still tightly shut.

It took Stefan a half a second to react, suddenly at my back, pulling me away from Damon.

"For the love of Christ!" I exclaimed, wiping the blood off my lips. "What is it with you trying that all the damn time?"

Damon had that crazy look in his eyes again. Deciding to stop fighting the urge, I stepped forward and smacked him as hard as I could.

"Coming back after death is _my_ choice, Damon fucking Salvatore. You do _not_ get to make that choice for me."

He stared at the floor, expressionless.


End file.
